While it may be obvious to most of you, we want to touch on one point that author Ellen Ruppel Shell makes in her book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. Over the years, she notes, “The focus switched from the object to the deal: If the deal was good, the object under consideration became less critical to the transaction.” Now, we at The Beggar absolutely focus on deals, but, for us, a “deal” represents the overall value of an object at a given price. In other words, the price and quality of an object should always be considered before making a purchase.